The heatwave has been driving me insane. I don’t know whether it’s the deafening whirr of the computer or perhaps it’s the fact that when I put ice cubes in my drink it melted within 4 minutes. Opening the doors and the windows, turning on the fans, they don’t seem to help. The flies come indoors and circulate under the lights. They stand on the keyboard and the screen. Or they circulate above your food.

I’ve measured 35 degrees (308K, 95F) in my house but some friends have measured 38 in their gardens (311K, 100F). That’s some 25 degrees warmer than we’re used to in the UK. It has been said that the temperature on the London Underground has reached 48C (321K, 118F). It’s even worse with the amount of people on the underground.

Right now, it’s warmer than Madrid (32C), Hong Kong (30C) and Miama (31C) and almost as warm as Cairo (37C). There have been reports from across the UK of roads melting and people losing their shoes. Right now in the area around me, there are 7 gritters out trying to stop the roads from melting. At Gatwick, 36.3C was measured (in the shade) which makes today the hottest ever July day measured.

Many schools in the area have been closed. Some schools have been closing at 1:30 today whilst others haven’t bothered to open at all (it’s the last week of term anyway). Over the last few days, I’ve failed to do anything particularly useful – it’s too hot to code or even to write a proper blog post.  

It’s forecast to rain tonight and the temperature should go down a good 10 degrees. However, a very warm August is already forecast.

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